


As Fire Caught and the Mockingjay Rose

by saltwaterandpromises



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Rewrite, POV Peeta Mellark, Retelling, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-27
Updated: 2013-12-27
Packaged: 2018-01-06 10:04:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1105511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltwaterandpromises/pseuds/saltwaterandpromises
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happened to Peeta at the end of Catching Fire? This is a re-telling of a bit of the end of Catching Fire through Peeta's POV. The story then touches on his encounter with the Capitol.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As Fire Caught and the Mockingjay Rose

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction. Please be kind!

"Katniss!" I yell. No answer. "Katniss!"

"Peeta!" she screams. She's far. "Peeta. I'm here! Peeta!"

         I run as fast as I can but my artificial leg holds me back. I push harder, unsure if I can make it to her.

"I'm here! I'm here!" she yells, "Peeta!"

         What is she doing? Does she not know the others will come? I hear Finnick and Enobaria run after her. Then I realize her plan, and run so fast I trip. I can't, and won't, let them get her instead of me.

         Another cannon.

"Katniss!" I holler. No answer. Where is she? Who has her? Is she dead?

         A figure comes into view and, unsure if it's her, I hang close to the force field. It will serve as a weapon, if necessary. I keep running toward the figure as I see her bow and arrow. As I turn to run to her, I see her bow turn from Enobaria towards the roof of the force field. Out of bewilderment and confusion, I stare up and try to evaluate her plan. Whatever she is doing, it is not with the original plan.

         I run to tackle her, to stop her in her tracks, but it's no use. As her hand releases the bow, her name barely escapes my lips, and then the world explodes as I'm knocked to the ground, electrocuted, and black out.

* * *

         Though I'm not sure when, I wake up. Katniss? My head goes from side to side. When I look up, I notice that the sky has turned blue. But there's no sign of her anywhere.

"Katniss!" I yell, but all that comes out is a muffled mumble. A gag is tied around my mouth.

"We've got eyes," a Peacekeeper says to the others, nodding in my direction. He must be the leader of the ten Peacekeepers around.

         That's when I notice my hands have been tied behind my back, my chest attached to the lightning tree. My legs are immoveable because of rope. Over to my left, Johanna is tied by her wrists to a tree and appears to have been beaten. She looks at me with sad eyes. They appear to say, "Sorry."

"Where are the others?!" one Peacekeeper asks nodding to me.

         The gag restricts me from answering. A fist comes up and strikes my jaw, and blood fills my mouth. The Peacekeepers look at the one in charge; he nods and one of the assisting Peacekeepers rips the gag off from my mouth.

"Aahh!" it involuntarily leaves my mouth just before I start panting. Blood drips down my chin.

"Where are the others?!" the head Peacekeeper demands again, "Where have they gone?!"

         I look up at them as confusion sweeps my face. Then I turn to Johanna, and her eyes move down.

"You don't know?" I ask. This rouses them up and they demand an answer.

"I don't know." I say. It angers me that they know more than I do, so I yell back, "Where is Katniss?! Come on; tell me! You know more than I do!"

         This earns me a slap across my right cheek.

"Fine! If you don't want to tell us where the others are, tell us what happened to the arena! Who set this up?!"

"Honestly, I don't know," I manage to murmur. My cheek strings, and my jaw has not stopped bleeding. It's a wonder a boy whjo almost died from electrocution can take all this and still manage to think somewhat straight.

"Where's Katniss?" I whisper while looking up with pleading eyes.

         I had to make sure she was all right- that they hadn't killed her, or worse, brought her somewhere to be tortured. She had to return home- to District 12, to Prim and her mother, and to Gale.

"That's what you're supposed to be telling us!" the head Peacekeeper yells in return.

         He then turns to the Peacekeeper who had taken off my gag, telling him to, "Crank up the tree!"

         I see the assistant Peacekeeper moce to turn a machine on. My eyes dart quickly to Johanna unsure of what is to come. Maybe she can get them to stop whatever sort of torture is sure to follow the order. She must know what the Peacekeepers mean by "crank up the tree" because her eyes widen. A small gasp is given before she screams.

" _No_!" she pleads, "No, stop! Don't do it! He might _die_! No! Please, stop!"

        The lead Peacekeeper moves to punch her.

"Shut up, silly girl! Let us handle this!" he yells in her face. When his hand collides with her head, her body has goes limp. She must have passed out.

         Now that the machine has warmed up, it makes a humming sound. I turn to look at the contraption and its flashing "on" light just as a Peacekeeper sends electricity to the tree, which has been rigged to conduct waht follows. The shock bores deep into me- all the way down to my bones, and I screa, so loud I am sure my vocal chords will soon pop out of their place. After about ten seconds of this, I black out and am, undoubtedly, dead.

* * *

         But, of course, the Capitol wouldn't allow me a private death. They have revived me, and I am chained down to a table. Straps (one stretching across to both my shoulders, one across my stomach and arms, one across my thighs, and one that keeps my ankles down) make an escape, or even the ability to really wiggle, impossible. While I was unconscious, someone stuck tubes into my left arm. Various machines of torture lie around me. I barely have time to take in my new environment before the head Peacekeeper from the remains of the arena comes in with a torture device I had never seen or heard of before. Unable to think of what it could be used for, I just hope that I won't find out its purpose. Luckily, he sets it on the table.

"Why did the arena blow up?" he asks as he preps a syringe. He explains the contents- tracker jacker venom. It's about the last thing I want in my system right now.

"I don't know," I whisper. My voice is hoarse- no thanks to all that screaming.

        The Peacekeeper pushes a button and a huge pail filled with water and hovering over my head tips over. With all the water gushing out and flodding my mouth, It's quite possible I can die drowning.

"Let's not make this hard, ok? Just answer my questions."

"I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to," I try to say this with conviction, but my weak voice falters. The panting doesn't help, either. "I don't know anything."

        The Peacekeeper reaches for the foreign torture device on the table.

"I'll try this one more time. Tell me, or we'll see how you like this," he says, holding up the device.

        That's when the supressed fear finally rears its ugly head. The body's signs of anxiety kick in. I am helpless and have no infomation.

"I don't know," I whisper, "I don't know."


End file.
